The Effect of Globalization on Fashion with Special Reference to the Impact of Japanese Designs on the European Scene

Fashion trendsetters tend to live in urban centers Economies of scale in a particular country may be more difficult to achieve

There have been and still are hundreds of fashion designers in the world. But only a few of them have had any major impact on fashion industry today. And even fewer have revolutionised the fashion industry completely. One of these revolutionaries is the renowned Christian Dior. He reestablished Paris as the centre of the fashion world, and created his name as a symbol of elegance, quality, and modernity. I will be looking into how Dior’s context informed his practice, by using three of his most iconic and popular designs; The Bar Suit, Venus Dress and the Cygne Noir dress. And how these were a direct representation of 1945-1950 France.

With over thousands of clothing collections from prehistoric life to the present, the Museum of London, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Fashion Museum in Bath allow visitors to observe the many changes that occurred in fashion throughout the years. With my prior knowledge about the 1800s fashion styles, I began to focus on a different era within the 19th century at each museum. Focusing on different eras enabled me to thoroughly analyze and compare each fashion style.

This papers purpose is to teach fashion heavy consumers on the real price of fast fashion and how buying it affects the environment. This type of audience can be anyone who partakes in the buying of well-known cheap retail stores that have a large audience of being fast and obtainable. These consumers should have the information on how fast fashion effects are environment so it could possibly alter their buying habits to be eco-friendlier but buying either less or more sustainable clothing instead of the cheap alternatives. This audience should care about this purpose because this will affect the world now and for future generations as their environment is being mistreated because of these fast

Vera Wang has a passion for fashion, and her passion is a driving force behind her success. Wang’s interest in fashion began at an early age as she began designing figure skating costumes for her competitions.1 She then worked in the fashion industry as a senior editor at Vogue and for Ralph Lauren as a design director. She started her own business at the age of 40, designing clothes for one client at a time as she grew her business and gaining popularity until the point where she could launch her own line. In her journey Wang displayed “value-based” leadership behaviors. Value-based behaviors include establishing a vision and displaying a passion for it.2 Wang’s work ethic belays her passion as she is a self proclaimed workaholic who meets with her clients during the day, and often designs at night.

Japan at the turn of the century was clearly trying to westernize and change is isolated society into one more intellectually and scientifically involved with the rest of the world. When the Japanese open their ports to the western civilization food and merchandise were not the only things being traded. When ports were open the western way of living was integrated with the Japanese culture which gradually changed the way the

Technology has had a major impact on the progress of fashion between the 1945’s and 1960’s and beyond. People used to have busy lifestyles before the growth of technology to help them. During WW2, there was a shortage of fabrics and people needed to preserve them. However, once the world got into a stable post-war time which were the 50s, there were more intricate outfits which used large amounts of fabric. Technology also allowed more different varieties of dyes and fibers to be made which added more of a personal touch to fashion and gave a feeling of wellbeing and comfort.

The last of the main eras of the 20th century was quite different from the others. During these later years, which stretched from 1968 to 1983, it was the American fashion industry that established itself. This was not the case with the Canadian fashion industry. "The Canadian public…rarely recognized the names of their own fashion designers…any success by Canadians tended to be subsumed under the more identifiable American fashion scene."(Palmer, 2004) The Canadian public was still rather indifferent towards Canadian fashion, but now bought into the new American fashion scene. As a result, the Canadians who succeeded in fashion were the ones who moved to be closer to, or at least fit in well enough with, the American fashion industry.

Fashion-conscious teenage girls are fond of wearing pink and other super-feminine clothes whereas older women, being brought in the workforce during the peak of Japan’s bubble economy during the 1980’s, have become fond of luxury designer items and high fashion, which can sometimes be noted through the suits they wear for work. Women who have high positions in global corporations usually wear designer suits, the designer usually being either European or American.

Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the riches to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creator of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as having leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers of the modern fashion industry.

As technology continues to progress fashion evolves right alongside. Before the invention of the tv the way to spread different styles and outfits was through sketches and designs. By this means it would take extended amounts of time to spread ideas of fashion from one place to another. The influence of technology on the fashion industry cannot be overlooked. Fashion is being rapidly offered to consumers at an amazingly fast rate. Nowadays anybody can have anything they want within the reach of a button on a phone or computer screen, fashion is instantaneous. It used to be following style patterns included venturing to the far corners of the planet in a group of 10 to create a

20th century can be named as the era where there was a significant development of the fashion industry. During this century the world experienced two world wars and this itself brought immense

Social and cultural changes are major determinants of emerging fashions. However, they are themselves affected by the other drivers of change that include globalization of world markets and accessibility of more sophisticated communications technologies. The latter has provided people with faster and wider access to more ideas and influences from other cultures and societies, driving demand for wider choice in fashion products.

This essay will be considering the historical development of haute couture by analysing Charles Frederick Worth’s (father of haute couture) key factors in the success of haute Couture. I will then discuss Coco Chanel’s thriving impact on haute couture as well as ready-to-wear caused by the second world war. Saint Laurent’s drift to ready-to-wear and the high street fashion system will also be discussed in order to answer if haute couture is relevant in fashion today. The books I will be analysing and referencing are ‘A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th Century’ by Bonnie English, ‘Couture’ by Ruth Lynam, ‘How Fashion Works’ by Gavin Waddell. Which will thoroughly breakdown the evolution and historical development of fashion by cultural, economic, environmental and social changes to finally come into a conclusion.

The fashion industry too, is influenced by external forces be they social, political, economic, technological or even competitive, which